In a merger, keep the logo that has Equity.
When companies merge, one of the crucial concerns is that a symbol is needed to represent the merged company. Unsophisticated management will ignore the importance but sophisticated management will handle the issue as a .
Continental airlines and United airlines announced their merger May 2, 2010 to form the world’s leading airline and at the same time announced the new company name and symbol. The name is United Airlines and the symbol is the familiar Continental logo. They will also employ the Continental color scheme and visual identity on the airplanes.
Why would management decide to use Continental’s visual identity? Simple: Continental’s logo represents the “Award-winning customer service with industry-leading on-time performance” brand. United represents the opposite. Continental’s service-oriented brand is the one with equity. United’s brand is a liability. More aboutsuccessful logo design here.
Tags: brand, Branding, company symbol, evaluating brand value, Logo Design, logo redesign, rebranding
Good point. A logo really can reveal whether management is sophisticated or naïve. And that can influence investor and customer opinions.
Thoughtful blog post! and remember, merging two or more firms seriously disrupts the identities of each organization, generates fear of identity loss, and raises questions about the identity of the new combination, which may hinder trust in and identification with it. Integration cannot succeed before employees of the merged entity feel a sense of belonging to a single enterprise with which they can identify and to which they are motivated to contribute. Typically, Identity management is grossly overlooked by management.
After the Florida Everglades plane crash, ValueJet became AirTran. It makes sense to change the logo (and name) if the company has had its reputation so deeply damaged that the customers’ perceptions are fundamentally altered. Should BP change its name due to the Gulf oil spill?ate it!
Clearly deciding whether to keep one of the logos in a merger or whether to start over is a deeper issue than most businessmen realize. Thanks for the thought provoking post.
Logos can define a company’s personality, which in turn can make it more attractive to consumers. Merging companies need to pay attention.